He's Waiting for You

Consume His word.  Eat it, digest it.  Whatever you have to do to get it in you, do that.  It is life.  It is everything.  It will encourage you, teach you, give you wisdom, convict you, but most importantly…. It will show you what an amazing, gracious, merciful Father you serve.  He's a good, good Father.  The great I AM.  

You grow in intimacy when you spend time in His word, letting it sink deep into your soul.  When you read it, ask Holy Spirit to reveal the truths hidden there.  Don't allow past experiences where people have misused His word for their agendas cause you to shy away.  Don't shy away from the old testament because you feel it's harsh.  I used to do that, until God began to show me the WHOLE story of his word.  We cannot take scripture out of context and meaning away from the entire book.  There are consequences for man's sin and choices, but oh friend, throughout is God’s mercy over and over.  Over and over He extends His love, calling us back to Him.  From the beginning He had a plan to restore us and His name is Jesus!  From the beginning Holy Spirit existed as our helper.  His word will reveal all of this to you! 

If your not a reader, listen to it.  If you can't sit with it for long, pick just one scripture each day.  There are so many options out there that make it easier than ever to get His word in you… find what works for you.  There are no excuses and besides, He's waiting for you! 

I Love You Too...

Come child.  Come to Me.  Oh how I love you! 

Why do you complicate? Why do you shy away?  Why do you make it something that it's not?

STOP!

The enemy has distorted my love, my desired relationship with you, long enough!

Come to me as a child, because YOU ARE MY CHILD! Climb into my lap of safety.  Cling to me. There you will find all you need.  I AM the breath of life, the living water and I long for you!  

My beloved, my child...in all this world I want YOU!!!  You are my prize, my reward.  You are pure love, pure joy.  I loved you in the garden and I love you still.  

Would you not give up your life for your own children?  Would you not always welcome them to your lap, your embrace?

Close your eyes, breathe deep.  I'm in the sway of your heartbeat.  I am the peace that surrounds you.  Rest in me.  As your heart cries, " I love you!", mine responds-

"I love you too!"

Bask in my love.

~Abba

James 1:18 

 18  He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word.  And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

John 3:16

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 11: 28-30

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Who Do You Serve?

 

If I told you the sky was blue and you couldn’t see it, would that make it any less true?  It’s interesting because when someone starts talking about the spirit realm, people get really uncomfortable.  Demons?  Many don’t even accept their existence.  The problem?  Just because you don’t acknowledge that they are in fact a real thing, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.  It doesn’t mean that they can’t and don’t attack you.  Not accepting their existence, is no less silly than not accepting that the sky is blue.

Scripture is really clear.  We don’t fight against flesh and blood, but against the unseen forces of darkness-Ephesians 6:12:

               For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

There are countless accounts in the bible of meddling by the demonic and deliverance from these agents of Satan.  Yet, somehow, many still choose to turn a blind eye.  Holy Spirit wants to wake us up when it comes to this subject.  He desires to train us and teach us.  I will be honest, I have been grappling with sharing on this, since so many find it controversial.  Yet, I care more about being obedient to Him, so Holy Spirit, guide my words.  Be the “pen” in my hand and speak what you want known.  Come Holy Spirit.  Not my words, yours God.  No spirit, but the Holy Spirit in Jesus name.

Have you had strange things happen?  Things that you dismissed due to fatigue, a trick of the eye, or just a bad dream.  Do you think that every thought you have is either yours or from God?  When things happen with your spouse, child, friend, or co-worker, do you see the spirit behind it, or do you just see the flawed, broken person?  That last one is a tough one.  I feel the need to preface that if it is a person that is an issue, I am not at all saying that they get a free pass and that you are to be a doormat since there is a spiritual component involved.  What I am proposing, is that after taking an honest stock of yourself, fight the battle in the spirit realm, seek what God would have you do, and I guarantee there will be a better outcome than if you try to solve it according to the world’s standards. 

You see, Satan has done a great job.  He has desensitized the crud out of everyone.  Literally everything we see and hear is to desensitize us to his activity.  He doesn’t want us to think about the fact that there might be demonic activity behind something.  As long as we stay ignorant, we are not effective.  He doesn’t have to worry about us.  We aren’t a threat.  We carry on, blind, just like he wants us to. 

We will search every facet of the internet, gorging ourselves on self-help, self-care, and all the answers the world has to offer, but we refuse to open God’s word.  How the enemy moves, works and operates is exposed in the word of God.  The battle plan, right there at our fingertips.  The problem is that doesn’t feed our flesh and bring the comfort we desire.  Because we lack knowledge, we are afraid.  So, we back down, forgetting that the King of Kings and Lord or Lords WON!!!!  He holds the keys to death and the grave!  He gave us victory over the enemy!  You only need to walk in the knowledge that you are in fact a child of the living, one true God, the Lord of heavens armies!!!  If we truly understood the authority and position that we have as sons and daughters of Jesus, we would not fear.  We would not back down.

When we don’t see rightly, we end up serving someone we didn’t intend too.  If that causes you pause or to wince, it’s meant to.  You see, there isn’t a middle ground.  The bible is clear about that too.  There isn’t a place in between where if you don’t accept that demons are real, then you are safe.  We are always serving someone-God, or Satan.  Just because we don’t accept, or we want to downplay/justify our choices, doesn’t make that statement any less true.  I pray that places the fear of God in us, to press in and seek His truth on this matter.

There is so much to the category of spiritual warfare, that I couldn’t possibly address it all in one sitting.  So, here’s what I would say…. seek Holy Spirit.  Begin to ask Him to give you eyes to see what’s really happening.  Ask Him to show you what is happening in the spirit realm and how you are to partner with Him.  Prayerfully read God’s word on the topic.  If you have specific questions, let me know and I’ll see if I can help point you in the right direction.  For now, here are some words of our God to chew on and digest.  I speak and declare that these words will not return void, as His word promises, and that they will sink deep, being written on your hearts, in Jesus name.

Isaiah 55:11

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Ephesians 2:2-6

You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.

Romans 8:15

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

 

Romans 8:38-39

 

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Luke 9:1

One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases.

 

 

I Can Do Hard Things

It seems fitting that this would be what Abba would lay on my heart today, the Friday before Father’s Day.  My dad taught me and my sisters about working hard.  One of my last, longer conversations with my dad, ended with his encouragement to do the right thing, even when it’s the hard thing.  I miss my dad.  His life lessons are still echoing from Heaven.

Hiking a long trail, riddled with spider webs, not knowing exactly where I was, caused mild fear to rise within me and the question of whether to turn back, to be at the forefront of my mind.  I was leading the way, my girl right behind.  I said, “We can do hard things, Bella!”  I think it was more encouragement to myself than to her.  It dawned on me halfway through, as I waved a long stick in front of me to hopefully get the spider webs BEFORE walking through them, that this hike seemed to be a call to look back and a prophecy in motion about what lay ahead. 

The last 3 years have been hard.  Harder than hard.  A kind of hard that you wish wasn’t yours but wouldn’t wish on anyone else.  It was hard….and beautiful. There is beauty in the love that calls you to the side of a dying one. Beauty, as you hold a hand after a life-saving surgery, praying for pain to cease.  Beauty in being able to be love poured out.  I have learned more about the One who poured out ultimate love, love that stained red, in this season, than I think in my lifetime.  THAT, is beautiful.  That, I wouldn’t trade.  Easy doesn’t get you to where deep calls to deep.  Following God head on into the circumstances in which He has put you, does. 

God longs to know you.  That sounds wrong right?  The God who knows everything, longs to know you?  It’s true.  He does know everything. All your thoughts and fears, and yet He longs for you to come and tell him anyway.  It’s intimacy and relationship He desires.  He longs to love you and be loved by you.  He uses the hard to reveal more and more of Himself, that you would otherwise never know. 

The enemy wants to keep you from this love.  He will do anything to stop you from experiencing the revelation of a love that rips wide and covers all.  We don’t fight against flesh and blood, he knows this, but do we?  We look with our fleshly eyes at the here and now.  Distracted by everything thrown our way.  We listen to the whispers of your not enough, you need to be alone, no one really gets you, you deserve what your getting…..the list goes on and on.  Sometimes it’s not whispers in your ear, but yells from a loved one, co-worker or friend.  Sometimes it’s an unspoken understanding.  And even sometimes, it’s a trial like cancer that the enemy tries to use to take us out.  To deafen our ears to the One who brings life and love. 

I have been challenged by the verse found in Romans 8:28. 

               And we know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

Since we are ALL called by God, this applies to us all.  I have had to ask myself do I really believe this?  Do I believe it even when the hard gets harder?  Do I believe it when the hard ends in tragedy according to earths standards?  I can honestly say….I do.  Yes, sometimes it takes effort on my part to resist the enemy so that he will flee.  I have to stand up and stand out.  But when I do and even sometimes, when I don’t, as long as I fix my eyes on Him, Love poured out, He comes.    He is breath.  He is life.  He is everything.  I can honestly say that when I stop fighting, fighting for something to appease my flesh, He comes every. Single. Time.  His ways are better.

 

Romans 8:28 NLT

²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
² He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
³     He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
⁴ Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
⁶ Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

 

Ephesians 6:12

¹² For we^[d] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Face Down

 

Face down is how I found myself the other morning.  Forehead to the ground, weeping, repenting on behalf of myself and the rest of the church.  “Holy, holy, are you God!”, echoing from my lips over and over.  God has a way of correcting our perspective.  Not leading to condemnation, but leading in a love, which turns our hearts and helps us see rightly.

        Over the last several months, God has been drawing me back to an understanding of His greatness, His glory…leading to the fear and awe of Him.  The great I AM, the one true God, the beginning and end.  We can’t even comprehend His greatness, but what little we can, should drop us to our knees every.  Single.  Time. 

The world has desensitized us, blinding us with a veil of self.  Everything around us screams that it’s all about us.  So why are we surprised when that bleeds into the church pews.  Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes blatant.  We come to Jesus with a “what have you done or me lately?” attitude, forgetting about His love and life laid down.  It’s often guised by the desire to “See God move”.  Oh, that we would be transformed by His love and see Him rightly!

At first, I thought he was just bringing me back to the cross.  Bringing me back to an understanding that He is enough, He did enough, period.  It’s true, Jesus is enough, but Jesus, God and Holy Spirit existed long before.  They existed before the dawn of time as we know it.  They were just as great then, as they were that day on Calvary, as they are today.  I have been saying, “Even if you didn’t do one more thing God, you are still worthy of all my praise and worship”.  Now, face down, I am saying, “Even if you did nothing, God, you are worthy of all my worship!”  He is worthy, because HE IS!  He is worthy, He is worthy, He is worthy! 

How I long and pray that we will have a revelation of who He truly is and that out of who He truly is, His love.  When you see Him rightly and He is placed in proper position in your life, the fact that He chose to be love laid down for us, will wreck you all the more and you too, will be face down, crying out, “Holy, Holy are you Lord!”.

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

¹ Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings^[a];
    honor the Lord for his glory and strength.
² Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
    Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

³ The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
    The God of glory thunders.
    The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
    the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
    he makes Mount Hermon^[b] leap like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes
    with bolts of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks^[c]
    and strips the forests bare.
In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”

¹⁰ The Lord rules over the floodwaters.
    The Lord reigns as king forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives his people strength.
    The Lord blesses them with peace.